Crossing the border with Blue Jays beat reporter Jordan Bastian.

Day 3 developments

1. According to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, the Angels are making a push for ace right-hander Roy Halladay and have offered LHP Joe Saunders, SS Erick Aybar and Minor League CF Peter Bourjos.

If the Jays agreed, Elliott says the team would then try to trade recently-signed SS Alex Gonzalez. Halladay prefers to pitch for a team that trains in Florida, but a source told MLB.com that hemight approve a move to the West Coast for 2010, considering he is a free-agent next winter.

2. Anthopoulos said the Tigers’ haul in the Detroit-Arizona-New York trade that sent Curtis Granderson is similar to what he is seeking in trade talks. The Tigers acquired outfield prospect Austin Jackson, as well as pitchers Max Scherzer, Daniel Schlereth and Phil Coke — all players under Detroit’s control for the next few years.

“It’s definitely similar,” Anthopoulos said. “I think the Orioles have definitely been similar with some of the things they’ve been trying to do — some of the trades that they’ve made. So, I think a lot of clubs obviously look at one of the greatest currencies in baseball is young, cheap controllable players. That’s why they’re so hard to acquire.”

3. It does not look like the Blue Jays will make any deals before leaving the Winter Meetings. Jays are “intrigued” by some players in the Rule 5 Draft, but that does not mean the club will use its pick on anyone.

“I wouldn’t expect to have anything done. Again, things can change so fast — we still have tonight and tomorrow morning. But, once the Rule 5 hits, everyone’s getting on planes.”

4. Anthopoulos is not losing sleep over having to explain to Blue Jays fans why he traded Roy Halladay, if he does indeed pull the trigger this winter.

“Any trades that we make, you make the evaluation based on, I know it’s cliche to say, but ‘What’s best for this organization?’ I think if you’re doing that then you will have a checklist and a list of reasons why things make sense for you. If you’re honest and you’re transparent, and you convey those reasons to the fan base, I think fans don’t necessarily get enough credit. They’re more educated than they were, I believe, when I was a fan. They understand rules. The understand contracts. They understand options. They understand finances. They understand more of the landscape.

“The information that is out there is incredible. I think the media outlets and the information that they can get is incredible. The reasons that we do things, again, I don’t expect everybody to agree with everything we do. That just goes without saying, but I think that everyone is going to understand that the reasons that we do things are going to be well-thought out. There will be a process in place and obviously everything that we are doing is what we feel is best for this organization.”

5. Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said Anthopoulos has kept him in the loop on all the offseason talks, even asking for his input on potential deals and moves. Gaston said once again that he believes Halladay will be moved.

“Rzepczynski, if he can come back and pitch like he did, I mean, his record might not show how well he pitched, but if you go look at what guys hit off him, he had a great year for us as far as I’m concerned, and hopefully he’s going to be part of our rotation coming up this year.”

7. Gaston asked Dusty Baker about shortstop Alex Gonzalez and and the Reds manager had good things to say:

“Well, you know what, I was talking to Dusty earlier today, and Dusty likes him a lot. He says he’s a good player, plays hard, likes to play,” said Gaston, who then smiled. “We can always fall back to Johnny Mac.”

“Unless we get some guys back that can fill that role, then you’re probably looking at Bautista there if you get him back,” Gaston said. “So once again, I mean, we really don’t know which way we’re going as far as players and things like that. I mean, if depends on a lot of what we get back.”

9. Marco Scutaro phoned Gaston today.

“Scutaro is gone, did a great job for us,” Gaston said. “I got a call from him today, and he just called to thank me for everything that we did for him, but I wanted to thank him for everything he did for us. I wish him the best.”

10. Gaston plans on trying Aaron Hill and Adam Lind in the third and fourth spots of the lineup, respectively, during Spring Training. But Lind has expressed that he has had a rough time over the years as a cleanup hitter.

“I’m going to try that in Spring Training and see if that works out for them,” Gaston said. “I don’t think it’s going to bother Hill too much, but I know Lind, even in high school and even in college, he said he’s just never really hit well in the fourth spot. If that’s in his head, then it’s not a good place to put him. We would have to find somewhere else to put him.”

“Maybe I might have to put Aaron back two and put Lind back three, but we’ll see. We’ll experiment with it and see what we have in Spring Training, see if they’re comfortable with it. Like I said, I don’t think it’s going to bother Aaron too much, but Lind, it’s kind of in his head a little bit — that spot is not too good for him. So, I don’t want to leave him in that spot if he feels that way.”

Would Gaston try Lind in the three spot and Hill fourth?

“Well, I’ve thought about that, too, and it would be something I would try. I just don’t want to put that much heat on him either, you know, going from second all the way to fourth. He might feel like he’s got to hit more home runs than he hit last year, which would be nice if that happen. That’s something to think about. Anything is possible.”

3 Comments

It’s funny Gaston already wrote Vernon off for next year saying he wants Lind in the 4 spot isn’t that where the $20 mill man should be he doesn’t get that money to not drive in runs or does he? And Bautista in the 1 hole? I guess they don’t want any fans in the stands next year because that’s just pathetic.

If Jose Bautista is the leadoff hitter come opening day, then AA has immediately failed as GM. That’s just nonsense and there is no excuse for having no semblance of a leadoff guy. The Jays got lucky with Scutaro last year.

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